How Mercy in Action is helping victims of the fire

Cebu’s poorest communities suffered huge devastation when a fire tore through several slum areas. The fire happened in the slum district of Lorega, Cebu City, on Thursday 18th March. Around 500 homes were destroyed in the course of an afternoon, leaving around 7000 people with absolutely nothing. A couple of the MiA team happened to be in the area at the time, and were able to capture the photo below:

Mercy in Action’s projects are based in Talisay City, which is the city south of Cebu City, and as such, we were wondering how we could best help the victims of the fire as fast as possible. In our warehouse in Talisay is a large amount of tinned food, rice, blankets, powdered milk, water, and other goods – perfect for helping with immediate short-term relief!

We were able to coordinate with friends of MiA that run a church in the neighbourhood of the fire. We prepared relief care packages filled with essential supplies taken from our warehouse. Our partners were then able to distribute these packages to the families. Their close relationship with that community meant they were able to give the relief goods directly to the families that were most desperate.

Members of the team unloading care packages

By working with friends and contacts in the city, the care packages were given directly to families who were most in need

Because our warehouse was already stocked with goods, we were ready to give immediate aid to these unfortunate victims. These goods were all originally donated to our charity shops or to our Bath warehouse, and then sent over here to the Philippines on our container. Our deepest thanks goes to anyone who has donated food or clothing to Mercy in Action.